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Purpose An increasing number of patients with cancers are interested in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), which lacks scientific evidence. This study aimed to determine how CAM was used and how media affected patients in online cancer support groups (OCSG).Materials and Methods Between August 18 and September 12, 2021, an online survey was conducted among the members of OCSG. The survey consisted of five parts: baseline characteristics, attitudes toward and experience with CAM, source of information and reliabilities, experience with anthelmintics, and online health information literacy and usage.Results Among the 644 responders, a total of 221 patients with cancer completed the survey, and 78.2% (173/221) used CAM. The users’ median age was 52 years; 46.8% were males, and 43.9% had metastatic disease. Fifty-three CAM users (30.6%) discussed their physicians about CAM. In addition, 16.2% (28/173) of CAM users had the experience of anthelmintics. The use of anthelmintics in patients with cancers was associated with younger age (odds ratio [OR], 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84 to 0.95), metastatic disease (OR, 10.88; 95% CI, 3.39 to 34.86), previous exposure to CAM information (OR, 5.57; 95% CI, 1.01 to 30.72), experience with more types of CAM (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.29 to 3.05), and side effects (OR, 5.10; 95% CI 1.46 to 17.75).Conclusion Use of anthelmintics, a CAM of which information is widespread online, is affected by several factors. This study will provide essential information for developing a CAM management strategy in this digital age.

BACKGROUND A knowledge gap exists between the list of required actions and the action plan for countering cancer misinformation on social media. A social media strategy to deliver factual information while also disrupting disinformation on a social media network has garnered little attention OBJECTIVE This study is intended, first, to identify the spread structure of cancer misinformation on YouTube. How do YouTube videos play an important role to spread the self-administration of Anthelmintic for dogs as cancer medicine? Second, the study is intended to suggest the action strategy for stopping misinformation on YouTube by exploiting the logic of YouTube information flow and recommender system. What would be the effective strategy to stop cancer misinformation on YouTube? METHODS The study used the YouTube case on the Self-Administration of Anthelmintic for dogs as alternative cancer medicine in South Korea. We gathered the Korean YouTube videos on the self-administration of Fenbendazole. It was retrieved using YouTube API for the query "Fenbendazole" and 702 videos from 227 channels were compiled. Then, at least 50,000 views and uploaded between September 2019 and September 2020 were chosen from the collection. Finally, the 10 suggested videos for each video were compiled, totaling 573 videos. Social network visualization for 573 recommended videos is used to identify three intervention strategies for disrupting the The study found the evidence of so-called ‘complex contagion’ by human and recommender system. By exposing stakeholders to multiple information sources on Fenbendazole self-administration personal reviews and linking them via recommender algorithm, YouTube has become the perfect infrastructure for reinforcing the belief that Fenbendazole can cure cancer, despite government warnings of self-administration risks and dangers.YouTube misinformation network. RESULTS The study found the evidence of so-called ‘complex contagion’ by human and recommender system. By exposing stakeholders to multiple information sources on Fenbendazole self-administration personal reviews and linking them via recommender algorithm, YouTube has become the perfect infrastructure for reinforcing the belief that Fenbendazole can cure cancer, despite government warnings of self-administration risks and dangers. CONCLUSIONS Health authority should upload pertinent information through ‘multiple’ channels and should exploit existing YouTube recommendation algorithm to disrupt misinformation network. Considering the viewing habits of patients and caregivers, the direct use of hospital channels is more effective than the indirect use of news media channels through public announcement and statement or government channels. Reinforcing through multiple channels is the key.

This study explored the cognitive structures that influence mobile information seekers&rsquo, intentions of promoting health behaviors. Using a nationwide self-reported survey (n = 1010) conducted by a national research institute in Korea, the present study conducted multiple regression analyses and moderated mediation tests for its analysis. The results showed that two of the three social cognitive components&mdash, i.e., health information orientation (HIO) and e-health literacy (EHL)&mdash, had a positive effect on users&rsquo, mobile health information seeking behaviors (MHIS), whereas informational social support (ISS) did not. Furthermore, the effects of the social cognition factors varied based on the type of health-promoting behaviors, and the types of health-related behavior predicted by the three factors also differed. Moreover, HIO was a factor that affected only nutritional intake among all of the health promotion behaviors, while ISS was a critical factor that predicted most health-related behaviors, except for the participants&rsquo, regular exercise (REX). The findings also indicated that the respondents&rsquo, levels of health efficacy and the extent of their health-related information seeking on mobile devices partially mediated the associations between the independent variables and their health-related behavioral outcomes. Among the mediated moderation effects of the three factors in social cognition theory (SCT), only the mediated effects of EHL were found to be significant. Based on these findings, the present study highlighted that the predictors of health-promoting behaviors may vary according to the features of the information seekers. The further implications of the study are also discussed.

This study examines the dynamics of cultural politics in reality television shows featuring North Korean resettlers (NKR2) in South Korea. As existing studies focus on the role of media representation reproducing a dominant ideology for the resettlers, this paper focuses on the specific media rituals of NKR2 programs, which can be seen as a product of the neoliberalist localization process of the global media industry. In doing so, this paper demonstrates how NKR2 programs interrupt the current dynamics of emotions in regard to North Korean resettlers in South Korea. We argue that in shaping civic identity as an effect of the NKR2 show, cultural politics of citizenship in South Korea on North Korean resettlers serve the formation of relatively conservative and sexist civic identity.

We explored the mediation effect of cognitive factors on the relationship between cancer-related online information seeking and cancer-preventative behaviors. Using data obtained from the National Cancer Institute's 2013 Health Information National Trends Survey (N = 2,896), we performed structural equation modeling and demonstrated that online information seeking about cancer did not decrease users' cancer fatalism; however it elevated users' level of self-efficacy. Moreover, the findings show that cancer-related information seeking indirectly influenced cancer-preventative behaviors via self-efficacy, and individuals' level of self-efficacy significantly mediated the association between fatalistic beliefs and cancer-preventative behaviors. The results call for attention to cognitive mediators in explaining the relationship between online information seeking and related behaviors.

With the rapid development of interactive communication technology, the Internet is a major source of news and also plays an important role in connecting individual members of society. However, Internet users may have different perspectives on whether the Internet positively functions as a medium for public deliberation. Based on the assumption that being exposed to information on public affairs is a crucial step for one's civic engagement, this study explores how individuals’ motives related to news consumption, elaborative online news reading, and online news sharing influence their perceptions of online deliberation using structural equation modeling method (N = 998). The study finds significant relationships between news consumption motives and elaborative news reading and sharing behaviors, but only elaborative reading behavior had a significant effect on one's perceptions of online deliberation. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Using cross-sectional data (N = 811) implemented by the Korea Information Society Development Institute, this study investigated the effects of online users’ motivations (information-seeking, entertainment, and social utility) for reading online news on their online news usage and consumption in South Korea. Consistent with our predictions, the motivations were associated with in-depth reading. Our findings also indicated that in-depth reading mediated the association between the motivations for using and the actual use of online news, whereas interactions and source-checking did not mediate the relationship. The implications of the study and recommendations for future research directions are also discussed.